Vending machine



May 7, 1929.` 5 M CQFFMAN 1,711,773

VENDING MACHI NE @lifter/nua www. @am

May 7, 1929. SMCOFFMAN 7 1,111,173I

VENDING` MACHINE Filed NO-v. 19. 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 2 sa o ,Ya/772216Z 610177720770 @wf/fp.

May 7, 1929.

Filed Nov.

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lMay .7, 1929. vs. meot-"FMAN VENDING' MAGHI NE Filed NOV. 19, 1926 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 nvantoz @Hom/w13 1 Patented May 7, 1,929.

uNiTED STATES PATENT oFFlcE...

SAMUEL M.'COFFMAN, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI, ASSIGNOR TO RALPH H. OSBORNE AND CECIL W. SYDENSTRICKER, OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI.

VEN DIN G- MACHINE.

Application led November 19, 1926. Serial No. 149,397.

My invention relates to coin controlled vending machines and the present invention pertains more particularly to a machine which maybe used for vending articles such,

for instance, as bottled goods.

The invention, generally stated, embodies a case in whichan endless conveyer arranged to carry bottled goods is operably mounted for placing a bottle in position for delivery each time a proper coin is inserted in the coin controlled mechanism. u The case is preferably built like a refrigerator adapted to hold a cooling medium such as ice for chilling the bottled goods.

In order that the invention may be fully understood, reference will now be had to the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig.` 1 is a side elevation of the mechanism with several' of the bottle holdersremoved,

20. the case beingpartly broken away andv iny vertical longitudinal section on line 1 1 of Fig. 2. f

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mechanism with the case y.partly broken away and in horizontal section on line 2 2 of Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a broken plan view of a portion ofthe conveyer. t l Fig. 4 is a`vertical section on line4-4 of Pig.

Fig. 5 is a detail plan View of a portion of the coin controlled mechanism.

Fig. 6 is a. section on line 6 6of Fig. 5.

Fig. v7 yis a fragmentary section on line 7 7 of' Fig. 5. v

Fig. 8 is a detailed plan view of va cam with its hub and the shaft upon which said hub is journaled, in cross section. j

Fig. 9 is a section on the plane of line 6 6, Fig. 5, with a number yof the partsre- 4o moved.

Fig. 10 is a detail plan view of a notched wheel landl a detent associated `with said wheel, the shafts upon which said wheel and the detent are mounted being in cross section. ,A

. Fig.. 11 is a detaily plan view of a. slotted wheel employed in carryingl out the invention.

Fig. l2 is a. broken side elevationfof a 5o portion of the coin controlled mechanism with means for automatically preventing the passage of a coin through the coin chute. Fig. 13 is a View dis osed at a right angle to Fig. 12.

Fig. 14 is a plan view of the parts disclosed by Figs. 12 and 13, with additional elenents. l

1g. 15 is a ra enta section on ,ine 15 of Fig. 12. gm 'ry In carrying out the invention, I employ a case 2 which is preferably provided with outer and inner walls 4 and 6, spaced apart for the admission `of ground cork or other .insulating material 8. The case 2 is divided into -an ice chamber 10 and a main chamberl 13 by a perforated partition wall l2 through which chilled water from the melting ice can How around the bottled goods A in said chamber 13, the chilled water tained at proper/:depth by means of'an overv-flow pipe 14 leading outwardly through the bottom of the-case, Fig. 1. Access is had to the interior of the case 2 for the placement of ice and'bottled goods through va lid 18 and said case 2 is provided at its forward end with an offset provided at its upper por# tion with a delivery opening 20 anda sightopening 22, which latter is covered with glass or other transparent material 24 through which the coins deposited in the coin controlled mechanism, hereinafter de' scribed, can be viewedv for the purpose of determining whether or not they are legal and of the proper denomination. j

Referring now more particularly to the -conveyer, Figs. 1 to 4, inclusive, 26 designates a pair of endless sprocket chains arranged to travel around two pairs of being resof sprocket Wheels 28 and 3() and are provided at regular j intervals `with annular bottle holders 32 having lugs 34, which are firmly secured to certain links of the sprocket chains 26. j I

- The sprocket wheels 28-.are castor otherwise formed vintegral with a hub 36 journaled upon a stationary vertical shaft 38 fixed at its lower end to the adjustable section 40 of a lbase plate 42, which is frmlysecured y to the bottom of. the case 2. The section 40 is adjustable longitudinally for taking up slack in the sprocket chains 26 and isseable means such as set screws 44 extending through slots 46 in said section -4OJand threaded at 'their' lower ends into the base plate'42.

' The -sprocket wheels 30, likethe sprocket wheels 28, are cast or otherwise fixed to a cured at `any point of its adjustment by suitlos upon a lever 70, which is rockably mounted that it may be -vertical shaft 50 fixed at its lower end in cessively lift the ycally opposed peripheral recesses 53 and 55, hub respectively, Figs.

'liably holding each bottle holder 32 beneath fixedly mounted wheel 78 'having fourwtheopposite bottom of the case 2, Fig. 1.

-hold .the tooth 98 of the pawll 100 yieldably face of the slotted wheel 78 in order to suctoothed end of the pawl 1 00 the base plate 42 and at its upper end' in a out of thecoin slots 80, as will hereinafter boss 52 of a stationary member 54. The appear.

sprocket wheels 28 and 30 have diametri- The cam 90 has an upwardly projecting 106 which is journaled upon the upper 2 and 3, for successively end of the stationary shaft 62 and connected 34 for the purpose of reby suitable means such as a transverse pin 108, Fig. 6, to ashaft 110, extending through the top of the case 2 and provided with a a fixedly mounted handle 112, which in the present instance is prevented from rotating more than a quarter of a revolution by uphub 48, which is journaled upon a stationary receiving the lugs the delivery opening 20.

The sprocket hub 48 is provided with small integral cog wheel 56 which intermcshes with a larger cog wheel 58, Fig. 1, ixedly mounted upon a tubular shaft 60, t journaled upon a stationaryv shaft 62 fixed the case 2. The handle 112 is normally held at its lower end' to the base plate 42. The against the stop 114 by means of a coil tubular shaft is provided at its upper porspring 118 secured atone end to a collar 120 tion with a wheel 64 having four equally 'and having its opposite end abutting spaced` peripheral notches 66, Fig. 10, for chute 122. The collar 120 is `loosely successively receiving a detent 68 mounted mounted upon the cam hub 106 in `order rotated to regulate the tenupon a vertical shaft 72 fixed at its lower sion of the spring 118, a set screw 124, Figs. end to the base platey 42. The lever is 2 and 5, being pro-vided to lock said collar drawn towards the wheel 64 to yieldably 120 to the hub,b 106 at any point of its adhold the detent 68 in contact with said Wheel j ustment. by means of a coil spring 74 connected at The coin chute 122 extends down through one end to the free end of the lever 70 and at the top of the case 2 and terminates above its opposite end to a screw 76 secured to the the cam 90, as best shown by boss 52, Figs. 1 and 2. is supported by a bracket 126 projecting The upper end of the shaft' 60 extends from the stationary member'54. .One side freely through the center of the` stationary of the coin chute 122 is open and communimember 54, Fig. 6, and is provided with a cates with the upper end of the tube 86 and closed side of said coin chute 128, Figs. 12 and 15, whereby equally spaced peripheral coin slots 80, as l has an ejector C will be forced into best shown by Fig. 11, for the reception of smallcoins or slugs proper coins such as B. The slotted wheel 78y operates in a circular recess 82 in the 80.in the slotted wheel 78.- Coins of proper member 54, Figs. 5, 6 and 9, the coins B size are prevented from beinO- forced by the being supported upon the bottom of the reejector28 into the tube 86 y a marginal cessed portion as they are successively cardepending flange 130 on the side of the coin ried around to a delivery slot 84, Figs. 5 chute that communicates with the tube86. and 7, which leads from the member 54 to a The upper portion of the coin chute 122 slot 85 in a tube 86 fixed at its lower portion is normally closed against the passage of a to the base plate 42 and the bottom of the. coin by means of the inturned end 132 of a case 2, and arranged to discharge into a cash coin check 134, Figs. 2, 12- and 13, said indrawer 88 slidably mounted beneath the `turned end 132 projecting through a slot 136 in the coin chute. The c'oin check 134 is preferably in the form of a' lever mounted intermediate it-s ends upon the circular terminal 138 of a bar 140 fixed to one side of the coin chute 122. A coil spring 142 embracing the bar 140 and bearing at one,end against Ythe coin chute and at its opposite `end against the coin check 134 normally holds the latter in closed position.

The coin check 134 is moved to open position by means of an arm 144 fixed at one end 90 designates an oscillatory cam, Figs. 2, 5, 6, 8 and 9, having a depending segmental iange 92 which operates in a complementary recess 94 inthe upper portion of the slotted wheel 78. The cam 90 has a raised upper surface 96 which slopes downwardl at its ends `and is adapted to s'uccessivelydi t the toothed end 98 of a pawl 100 from the coin slots 80. The pawl 100 is mounted upon a pivot 102 carried by the stationary` member 54, and the yrear end of said pawl bears upon a coil spring 104, Fig. 9, carried in a recess :in said member 54 and adapted to ona stationary shaft 148upon which it is supported by acollar 150. The stationary shaft 148 is securedat its -lower end to the in engagement with the upper sui-face of base plate 42 and at its upper end in a boss the wheel 78 and the upper surface ofthe raised surface 96 of the cam 90. The raised surface 96 is on a level with the uppersurlower portion of the tubular shaft 146` is provided with a fixedly mounted spring wardly projecting stops 114 and 116 ontop a coin the tube 86 instead of entering the coin slots.

to a tubular shaft 146 rockably mounted up- Fig; 6, Where it f 152 depending from the member- 54. The

member 154, the free end of Vwhich is normally held in the path of the bottled goods as the latter approach the sprocket wheels 30.

156 designates a door for normally closing the delivery opening 20 in the case 2. Said door 156 is provided with a. pair of ixedly mounted bearings 157 rockably mounted upon the shaft 50. The door 156 is normally held in closed position by a coil spring 158 against a stop 160 secured to" the shaft by suitable means such as a set screw 162. The spring 160 bears at one end against the door 156 and is secured at its opposite endl) to a collar 163 fixed to the shaft 50 by suitable means such as a set screw 164.

The door 156 is pushed open by eachbottle as the latter is carried into position beneath the delivery opening 20. As the door 156 is pushed open it actuates a lever 161 roekably mounted upon the shaft 50 and provided with an arm 163, Figs. 1 and 14, which is carried against the spring member 154, and through the intermediary thereof and the tubular shaft 146 and the arm 144, holds the coin check 134 in closed position so that another coin cannot pass through the coin chute 122 until the bottle which forced the door 156 open is removed through the delivery opening 20.

Briefly stated, the operation is as follows:

All of the bottle holders 32, excepting the one beneath the delivery opening 20 are supplied with bottled goods which rest upon the bottom of -the case 2. The bottle bearing against the spring member 154 causes the latter, throughthe intermediary of the tubular shaft 146 and the arm 144 to hold the coin check 134 in open position. Upon insertion of a proper coin into the coin chute 122, said coin is conducted,into the slot 8O registering with the lower end of said coin chute. The handle 112 is then rotated to the right, Fig. 2, a quarter of a revolution, causing the forward end 97 of the cam 90 to impinge against the coin and through the intermediary thereof, carry the slotted ,wheel 78 forward o`ne step through onefourth of a revolution. As the slotted wheel 78 is carried forward, asY stated, it rotates the tubular shaft 6() therewith and said shaft 60, throughthe intermediary of the cog'wheels 58 and `56, rotates the sprocket wheels 30 through an arc of sufficient length to cause the sprocket chains 26 to carry the lirst loaded bottle holder 32 into deliveryy position beneath the opening 20 where it is reliably held in place through theintermediary of the lugs 34 fitting into the registering recesses of the sprocket wheels 30. As the holder 32 carries the bottle into delivery position said bottle contacts and forces the door 156 open, so that the customer may reach into the case 2 through. the delivery opening 20 and withdraw the bottle. As

the door 156 is swung open by the initial bottle, said door actuates the lever 161 and causes the latter to force its arm163 against the spring 154 so that said spring and the succeeding bottle against which it isk pressing, will yield sutliciently to close the coin check 134 through the `intermediary of the shaft 146 andthe arm 144. Just as soon as the customer withdraws the initial bottle the door 156 is swung 'to closed position against. the stop 160 by the spring 158. Opening of the door as stated, relieves the pressure of the arm 163 upon the spring member 154 so that the pressure exerted thereon against the abutting bottle will cause said spring member to open the coin check 134 through the intermediary of the shaft 146 and the arm 144, so that another coin may follow thel path of the first coin and the second bottle be brought into position for delivery in the same manner as the initial bottle.

rIhe initial coin remains' in the slotted7 wheel 78 until the third coin has been inserted and carried around one-fourth of a revolution in the same manner as the first and second coins, whereupon said first coin is brought into registry with the inclined delivery slot 84 through which it passes the coin tube 86 and is conducted thereby to the cash drawer 88. After the handle 112 has been turned to the right it maybe manually carried back to initial position, or automatically carried back through the action of the spring 118, and as the cam 90 moves backwardly with said handle 112 the slotted wheel 78 is prevented from turning backwardly therewith by the notched wheel 64 and the detent 68. Shoud any of the coins for any reason stick and fail to pass down into the'delivery slot 84 it will be positively forced down into said slot by the pawl 100, the toothed end of which is suddenly forced down upon the coin by the spring 104, causing the tooth 98 to enter the underlying slot 80. As the cam 90 is returned to initial position, its raised surface 96 passes beneath the tooth 98 and lifts the' latter out of the slot 80 leaving the wheel 78 free to advance another step. The foregoing operations may be repeated until the last bottle passes the spring member 154, whereupon the spring 142 closes the coin check 134 against the passage of other coins until the bottle holders 32 are restocked.

From the foregoing description it is apparent that I have provided a vending machine well adapted for the purpose intended, and while I have shown and described the preferred construction, combination and arrangement of parts I reserve all rights to such changes and modifications as properly fall within the spirit and scope of the invention as claimed.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Pat cnt, is: l

l. In a vending machine, a conveyer consisting of tWo pairs o't sprocket Wheels having diametrically opposed recesses with angular, corners, mechanism for driving one pair of said sprocket Wheels, a -pair of endless sprocket chains arranged totravel around said sprocket Wheels, a plurality of `equally spacedl cylindrical bottle holders, and

angular lugs securing said holders to the sprocket chains and adapted to enter and snugly lit Within said recesses in the sprocket Wheels.

lgoods in a vertical position over the of. the case to said delivery /opening and 2. In a vending machine, a case having a horizontally disposed bottom and a delivery opening, a self-closing door Jfor normally closing said opening, and an endless conveyer arranged to travel in a horizontal circuit Within said case and including a plu' rality of annular vertically disposed bottle holders for receiving and sliding floor causing` said bottle goods to open the selfclosing door.

In testimony -whereof I aflix my signature.

SAMUEL M. COFFMAN.

bottled 1 

